-Chieeeeeeeee!
The tinnitus makes the head hurt like it's going to break.
"Ugh, moo, what happened------?"
I remember something raining down from the sky. The moment I was caught in the explosion, I thought I heard a familiar young man's voice──
"Soo-ho---!"
Koo Dae-sung finally realized that the voice belonged to Han Ha-ri.
"I'm alive thanks to you."
"Ugh--- If it weren't for the power of the holy artifact, I would have died."
Soo-ho picked himself up off the ground with his glowing shield. His Lionheart Holy Knight's Relic is an absolute defense.
And it wasn't just his own defense, but a wide-area defense that enveloped his troops, allowing him to survive the Archdemon's magical bombardment.
"Thanks to you--- we survived."
"Uncle Koo Dae-sung!"
Ha-ri and Soo-ho recognized Koo Dae-sung and approached him. It had been a long time since they had seen him, but the situation was too urgent for that.
"Oh, right. Captain Kim Dohan, is everyone okay?"
"Ugh---I'm alive."
"I think I'm going deaf------"
One by one, the Men at Arms wake up. Koo Dae-sung was relieved that they were safe, but his expression quickly changed.
"Ugh, ouch!"
"My, my leg. My leg!"
The Guardian's shield was a shield of great power, but it was not enough to envelop the entire army.
"Ugh---!"
The comrades who were lagging behind the most were hit by the bombardment.
'Our formation is broken! We're isolated!'
The Archdemon's bombardment magic bisected the formation of the Naju Knights and their reinforcements. Partly to avoid the bombardment magic, partly due to the monsters' rush in--- the troops here were shredded and isolated.
'Aiming for individual assaults in such a short time?'
The enemies must be under the command and control of a high ranking demon.
"Take care of the wounded! They're coming back!"
The monsters rushed toward the divided troops. The wounded North Korean soldiers and Man-At-Arms were the first to be hunted down.
"Captain Kim!"
Koo Dae-sung raised his shield and rushed to the rescue of his allies. With a snap, he fended off the teeth that would have devoured his comrades, but he was only able to save one or two.
-Kwajik!
"Ugh!"
A companion barely regains his footing before the giant monster's jaws bite him and he disappears.
"Ugh, ugh------"
Crouching, trembling, overwhelmed by the chaos curse, the young North Korean hunter is trampled to death, unaware of the large demon's footsteps looming over him.
"Mr. Koo Dae-sung, please step back!"
Kim Jae-hyuk dropped Thunder and finished off the demon with a mighty blow. But he didn't last long. He was cut by a claw that the demon swung at him.
"Ouch, you idiot!"
Chun So-yeon jumped in and cut the demon down with his holy sword as it tried to deliver another blow. But soon, a projectile lodged in her shoulder, a poisonous stinger.
"I'll buy you time!"
Han Ha-ri summoned her full power. Her fire combined with the power of the Sea God to form a wave of flame that swept across the battlefield.
Upon contact, the monsters' flesh crumbled to ash and disappeared. It was truly overwhelming firepower but even that is only a short-lived respite.
"There are too many---!"
The monsters quickly fill the void, and just as she's about to strike again, a chilling sensation washes over her.
"Ah."
"Sister!"
Soo-ho rushes to her defense. But Ha-ri has already taken a dozen hits and is bleeding profusely.
She'd been so focused on mowing down the onrush of enemies that she'd neglected her ranged defense. She survived only because her armor, made purely of stardust, prevented her from being mortally wounded.
[I wonder if these are the new knights.]
"------!"
A sharp blade slashed at Soo-ho's back as he supported Ha-ri.
Soo-ho raises his shield in time, but the blade slips through the gap and slices through his thigh and waist.
"Ugh---!"
"Soo-ho!"
Koo Dae-sung hurriedly rushed to his aid, but──
[What the hell, you.]
Kwak, kwak, kwak.
Koo Dae-sung let out a yelp and tried to touch the blood splattered on his face in a daze.
"Uncle Koo Dae-sung!"
Soo-ho's voice was urgent but Koo Dae-sung looked at his shield rolling on the ground, puzzled.
'Why is my shield lying there------?'
The shield that was tightly wrapped around his left arm was somehow──
"Dodge!"
-Kaang!
The sound of metal colliding makes his ears ring. He realizes that it is an image of a sword wielded by a large demon over 2 meters tall colliding with the protective shield surrounding him.
[Weak.]
The demon had six arms, and six swords. The swords he swung sent the two of them flying through the guardian's shield.
"Ugh---!"
"------!!!"
The Archdemon clicked his tongue as he watched them roll around on the ground.
[You're weak compared to them, you're not real knights.]
The four knights, the core of the Naju Knights, had been accurately sniped and neutralized. This was done in less than a minute after the two Archdemons entered the fray.
[A disappointing ending for a Knight of Lionheart.]
The Archdemon of Pleasure and Corruption turned his attention to the two of them and left to deal with them after seeing a huge greatsword and hundreds of sword-wielding North Korean hunters in another direction.
"Ugh---"
Koo Dae-sung tried to get up from the ground, but he winced and realized his arm's absence.
"Uncle, my arm is------"
"Ah------"
Only then did Koo Dae-sung realize that his arm, the one holding the shield, had been severed.
He didn't know if it was because of the excessive secretion of adrenaline, but the emotion that came out of him now was a faint sigh from exhaustion.
Until the moment his arm was cut off, Koo Dae-sung hadn't seen anything. He was overwhelmed by the sword, which the demon wielded casually as if he wasn't even worth caring about.
"Ah, Uncle. First, let's stop the bleeding-"
Soo-ho bandaged Ha-ri and the armless Koo Dae-sung.
In the midst of the onslaught, Koo Dae-sung, who had only minimally defeated the monsters, could see his companions fighting the monsters.
"Protect the knights, raise your shields!"
Kim Dohan gritted his teeth and raised his shield. The shield went from his left shoulder to his waist. They formed a group formation, the empty areas protected by the shields of their comrades.
They went straight to using what they had been trained to live with.
"Aaaaaaah!"
With a grunt, he raised his shield to bear the weight of the medium-sized monster.
One Man-At-Arms, who had lost his weapon in the aftermath of the bombardment magic, tried to hold on to the shield with both hands.
"Damn it, there are too many of them!"
"Shields! Shieldmen, closer together! Protect each other!"
"Protect the knights!"
They were desperate to protect the knights, their only hope at this point. The four knights who had dug in so hard to save themselves must be protected.
Their value on this battlefield was far more important than hundreds of Man-At-Arms.
"Knights! When are the Blue Star Guild and the Divine Sword Guild coming to help?"
Urgent shouts erupted from everywhere. Koo Dae-sung raised the Star Iron Sword that was still clutched tightly in his right arm.
"Uncle?"
"I have to fight------"
"Your injuries are the worst, we should stay back and treat them!"
"------No."
Koo Dae-sung smiled bitterly and rejected Soo-ho's pleas. He clutched his abdomen, which seemed to be burning hot from earlier.
"Uncle?! The wound---!"
It wasn't just his arm that was cut off. The Archdemon's magic sword tore through even the star iron armor, slicing through Koo Dae-sung.
If it hadn't been for the iron armor, his body would have been cut in half.
"I won't live long. Take Miss Ha-ri and retreat."
Death is certain. Not only is it impossible to return from this muddled battlefield to the healing center, but it's doubtful he'll even make it there so Koo Dae-sung decided to do what he can.
-Bang!
Raising his sword with his free arm, he parried the demonic sword that was about to stab Kim Dohan. He was surprised to see Koo Dae-sung in such a terrible state, but Koo Dae-sung wordlessly swung his sword at the demon.
-Kickit!
However the demon easily dodged Koo Dae-sung sword, which was more of a flailing motion than a swing. Rather, the sword stabbed out in a counterattack, sliced into the nape of his neck.
"Ugh---!"
Blood spurted out, but Koo Dae-sung instinctively thrust his sword back in. However, as expected, the demon lightly deflected Koo Dae-sung counterattack.
-You're not good enough!
He gritted his teeth at the demon's mockery, for it was true.
The demon cunningly harassed Koo Dae-sung from the gap between the monsters.
It hid beneath the feet of the monsters as they swarmed around him, slashing at his ankles and stabbing at his companions as if to keep an eye on him.
When Koo Dae-sung tried to defend too much, he switched his attack and slashed at him as he had always done.
"Haak--- haak---!"
He breathes harshly and grabs the nape of his neck, which feels like it's being held down by a heated pharynx. With no shield and only one arm to wield, the sword quickly became too much.
'I'm going to die.'
It was not even a High Demon, let alone an Archdemon but a bladed demon, a common sight at the Demon Gate.
Even a demon of that caliber was toying with him.
Could there be another knight who was so weak? He was tired of his own helplessness.
[
Despite the message in the system window, his allies continue to fall around him. The accumulated damage can't be regenerated by such a meager protection.
'It's over.'
Koo Dae-sung, the ten thousand years D-rank, tried to encourage himself by saying that his efforts were no less than anyone else's, but in the end, he ended up not being able to save even one of his colleagues' lives.
-Die now.
The demon's laughter is heard as he looks at the hanging sword. But at the same time──
[The sword is not only a wielded weapon, but also the fastest armor. Always keep your sword in a position where you can respond.]
That position is above the navel. The voice in his head made him raise his sword, and he blocked the demon's swing.
-Kang!
A crisp, clear sound slaps his tinnitus-ridden ears and his arm trembled with shock.
[You look like me.]
"Huh?"
The voice of a knight continues to irritate his ears. No, it's a memory from the gate.
Koo Dae-sung subconsciously remembered the knight's tutelage and lowered his sword from the center of his navel.
With that alone, he somehow blocked the demon sword. Despite the slashing and tearing and the numbness in his arm, he continues to 'live'.
He thinks of the man who, just when he was about to give up, came to mind, and who, when asked why he did not give up, gave a stupid wise answer.
[Because challenges don't need the approval of others.]
Impossible.
I don't see any reason why that should be excluded from the challenge.
He, the ten-thousand year old D-ranked Koo Dae-sung, continued to blast out his meaningless tirade as if this was somehow going to ignite his will.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
At that very moment──
'Forward.'
I don't know why this thought occurred to me now. It was as if someone, a woman's voice, so kind and gentle, was whispering in my ear.
'Forward.'
How reckless to go forward in the face of a tidal wave of demons, so many of them.
How could I face this tidal wave head-on when I could barely parry a sword wielded by a mid-level demon?
I no longer have a shield, nor the strength to wield a sword.
[Young knight, young man, do you know courage?]
[Courage--you mean?]
[Or valor]
[Or love]
[Or hope]
As he hesitates, the old knight smiles and says.
[A knight is one who handles courage. It is thundering valor, unquenchable hope, and pure love.]
[A Holy Knight is the pinnacle of such knights, a symbol of courage.]
[Do you think a Holy Knight has courage?]
He was about to answer that question with a-- of course--- when he was interrupted by the second son of Jordic Bertum. A Knight of the Order of the Sunset, the man who would eventually become the first Knight in the service of Dream and Death, said.
[No one is born with courage from the start. It is not something that can be possessed, it is not something that is given, it is not something that can be earned.]
With a firm gaze, a foolish man of the past who had never experienced success said.
[Courage is exercised.]
Thus.
[Young knight. When you pray that you may become a man with courage, will the gods grant you courage? Or--- will they give you the opportunity to exercise your courage?]
'Forward.'
"Forward."
One step. Forward.
"Mr. Koo?!"
-?!!
Koo Dae-sung's sudden behavior caught their attention without warning.
Moving forward toward the tidal wave of malice, he's doing something insane without question.
Koo Dae-sung himself knows this.
He was a D-ranked hunter for ten years, and even when he became a knight, he fell behind everyone else and remained a junior knight.
He's taking reckless steps toward the enemy's formation, a formation that even the best knights of the realm can't penetrate.
'Forward.'
A woman's voice urged him forward, recklessly.
-You are mad! Die!
The demon that had been watching him with amusement at his weakness swung its sword wildly but Koo Dae-sung knew he could not move forward as long as the demon was present.
So
He took another step forward.
-------?!
A step forward, not defensively, toward the sword that swung with distance. The demon was surprised by Koo Dae-sung's unexpected behavior and swung the sword straight at him.
The blow sliced off his ear and pounded against his stellar armor. One ear was cut off, but the shock of the impact against the solid armor made the demon stiffen, and at that moment──
"Get out of the way."
It is blocked from moving forward.
-Crack!
A stellar iron sword pierces the demon's heart as the demon spits out a gasp and collapses.
But defeating one demon is not enough to stop the tidal wave. Koo Dae-sung stares out at the tidal wave of malice that is about to descend upon him, and once again he hears the woman's voice.
'Just a little more.'
The woman's voice led him to take another step and so it was that a humble man named Koo Dae-sung stood on the threshold of death.
-Kieh-eh-eh-eh-eh!
-Stupid bastard, kill him!
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of demons threatened to overtake Koo Dae-sung.
'Well done, my child.'
With a patronizing voice--- it fell.
-Thud!
"------!"
-------!?
It had suddenly fallen from the sky. Its appearance was so out of the ordinary that everyone stopped and stared at it, even on the cloudy battlefield.
It was in the shape of a hammer.
A warhammer shaped to be wielded with one hand.
However, it was so thick and large that it would be awkward to wield unless you were a giant.
"Sir Georgic's hammer?!"
The one-handed hammer of Holy Knight Georgic, an Epic-level item that sanctified the Naju TTG Temple.
Its presence was so powerful that it inspired enemies to think the same thing.
-Don't let him hold it.
-Bam!
-Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh!
Demons, monsters and North Korean mutants all thought the same thing.
Something terrible would happen the moment that thing was grasped.
"Ahhhh."
But contrary to their desperate cries, the closest one to the hammer was Koo Dae-sung, who, against all odds and recklessness, took a 'step forward'.
-Bam!
The moment the hammer sack was clutched in his one remaining arm-----
"Huh?!"
A vast green light shot up from beneath the ground, piercing the asphalt, along with the hammer.
It rose from the earth, enveloping the knight, piercing and ascending through the sky, announcing its presence to the entire planet.
[System Message: The protection of the Holy Knight of Life and Abundance, Koo Dae-sung, extends to the entire Legion.]
A new Holy Knight has been born.